Is RSS a terror outfit?

Prime accused in several terror cases, including the notorious Samjhauta Express bomb blast, Swami Aseemanand has reportedly confessed to a monthly magazine that the attacks had the sanction of the RSS top brass. The magazine has also put out audio recordings, said to be of Aseemanand, wherein he talks of how Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat and another top functionary, Indresh Kumar, had given him the go-ahead with his plans of carrying out the attacks in Muslim-dominated areas. According to the veteran RSS activist, the plans of carrying out the attacks were hatched in the Dangs tribal belt in Gujarat, where he was working in the tribal wing of the RSS. The magazine has claimed that the attacks, between 2006 and 2008, targeting the Samjhauta Express, the Ajmer Dargah Sharif, and the ones in Malegaon, had the clear sanction of Mohan Bhagwat. However, Aseemanand’s lawyer has denied that the journalist met Aseemanand, who is languishing in Ambala jail. The RSS, too, has denied the allegations. Meanwhile, the expose has stirred up a controversy. Leaders of major parties, including the Congress and the BSP, have called for an investigation into the claims made by the terror suspect. BSP Chief Mayawati has demanded a CBI enquiry. The BJP has called it a conspiracy of the Congress. These confessions may have little legal value but they point to a dangerous and devious aspect of the BJP that threatens to puncture its claims of ‘politics of development’.